Keeping The Blog Productive (Even For Down Days)

It's a known fact that blogging takes up a lot of time and even if you love it, sometimes you need tasks that aren't so intense but still keep the productivity ticking over till you're ready for your next big burst of energy. I'm a big fan of the batch way of doing things especially as I don't have all the time during the week to blogging. When you're not in the mood for those bigger jobs here are a few activities I save for those moments when your still crave some creativity but not on an heavy level. How do you spend your blogging down days? How do you keep your blog going during the week?

S H O O T & E D I T

B A T C H I M A G E S

On my current schedule I only have 1 day during the week to truly take any potential photographs for the next upcoming week and this is usually a weekend day (normally Saturday). This can be stressful as you have to consider your vibe, aesthetic, weather, light, props and if it's even possible to create as sometimes other plans get in the way or it could be that you're just not in the photography mood. However future the 'you' will be forever grateful that you took the time to photograph especially when it comes to blog post composition day and you don't have to rush to scramble a post together.

Editing photographs is something I now enjoy as I've generally got my style down to an (almost) fine art making it a fairly quick and painless activity to attempt, it's often an in-between task that I go to when I'm not ready for a more intensive creative job. Separating photographs, editing and composing your blog posts can allow you to mix it up, pick and choose and can make things a little more relaxed.

S C H E D U L I N G L I N K S

I admit I still haven't fallen in love with scheduling links, even though it doesn't take that long to complete it almost bores me to tears sometimes but making the effort to do this the night before means you don't have to worry for the majority of the next day. It can take a couple of hours to find all the appropriate links, images and witty / informative quips but it is worth it as any and all links can benefit your numbers. Links can be some of the most influential in terms of building your engagement, they are an incredible element to build up your online persona and can encourage your online space to have a bigger outreach. This is a good task as it doesn't require a lot of effort and can be done in the quieter moments (I just need to have a little more love for this.)

P L A N O U T I N S T A G R A M F E E D

Something that can take a surprising amount of time can be planning your future instagram theme, now some talented folks prefer more instantaneous and on the fly type of working and aesthetic but for me I'm all for organisation. When I don't feel like opening my laptop for work and just want to watch something easy as background noise it's the perfect time to get my Ipad out to edit, if you've read my blog post about 'HOW I CREATE MY INSTAGRAM FEED' then you'll know all the ins and outs of how I get to the finished article but I generally save this activity for when I'm not up for using my brain.

W R I T E O U T N E X T

B L O G P O S T

It's no secret that I plan out my potential blog posts before I type them up (although it does create some additional work) I've found it a necessary step in my blog post to do list and this is due to a number of reasons:

#01 || It takes the process away from the computer

#02 || When I type up blog posts it's not only faster but I often pick up on the spelling mistakes I made when writing

#03 || It's a task that can be done with background noise but can also be more focused

#04 || It allows me to be more explorative in my subject matter, more so than if I just go straight to my laptop

This can be a good task to fit into your work lunch breaks or late at night when you're not up to looking at a screen for hours on end. In terms of the 'work break', it not only takes the mind away from customers, work and colleagues giving you a rest but also gives you a deadline to work to for your passions plus an escapism - for me it's 45mins. With 45 minutes (apart from wolfing down lunch) you can do quite a lot even write out an entire blog post doing this even 3 times a week can mean you've created a sizeable backlog of potential typing and the hardest part is out of the way.